Friday, September 21, 2007

World Rainforest Movement celebrates 3rd annual International Day against monoculture tree plantations

Friday marks the third annual International Day against Monoculture Tree Plantations, which people use to spread awareness about the impacts of large scale tree monocultures on local communities and their environments.

Monoculture tree plantations create natural resources for countries in the north. However, they come with a huge social and economic cost for the countries in the south.

The plantations take up land for food production in countries which already suffer from malnutrition and hunger, as well as leading to decreased food sovereignty. Further impacts include the displacement of people in order to make room for plantations, the depletion of water resources, and pollution and degradation of soil.

The issue of climate change has worsened impacts of monoculture tree plantations and the creation of “solutions” to this problem only hurts communities more. Land is now being targeted to create fast wood plantations to absorb the carbon emitted by the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, oil palm plantations are being used to create biodiesel for cars, while frankentrees are grown to absorb carbon and produce ethanol.